Report ranks Hawaii 40th for economic competiveness

Hawaii ranks among the bottom ten states in economic competitiveness for the sixth year in a row in a study that measures the impact of state policies in 15 areas from personal income and corporate tax rates to the costs of workers’ compensation.

Hawaii improved to 40th place in 2013 from 46th place in 2012 in the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index.

The study was published by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit whose members include fossil-fuel companies and mostly Republican state legislators. Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a public policy think tank, made the report available to Hawaii policymakers and businesses.

“While the 2013 study does show that Hawaii has improved in its overall rank from 46th to 40th in terms of economic outlook for the future, a careful examination of what is included in the study as well as what is not, should caution any optimism,” said Kelii Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

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AhiPokewrote:

I wonder who could be below us. After all we are the most business unfriendly state in the nation.
"“While the 2013 study does show that Hawaii has improved in its overall rank from 46th to 40th in terms of economic outlook for the future, a careful examination of what is included in the study as well as what is not, should caution any optimism,” said Kelii Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii."
Moving from 46 to 40 is reason for "optimism"??? Who set your standards???

on May 23,2013 | 03:43PM

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localguywrote:

Once again Star Advertiser cub reporters have failed us. Just the other day they incorrectly wrote we could not use bluetooth devices in our cars. Today they failed to post the link showing how the 50 states rank. Here it is: http://www.alec.org/publications/rich-states-poor-states/ Notice Alaska blows us away. Yes, once again we rank in the gutter thanks to our dysfunctional bureaucrats.

on May 23,2013 | 04:00PM

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eoewrote:

Since this study is sponsored by ALEC - whose platform is composed of winning positions like gutting unions, weakening environmental protections, making taking pictures of animal abuse "terrorism," and fracking anytime/anywhere - I would turn this around and say we are on one of the top 10 states to live in.

on May 23,2013 | 04:21PM

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sayerwrote:

I agree. Hawaii is doing better than many other states economically so wassup wit dat.

Any platform composed of winning positions like gutting unions is a platform I can get behind.

on May 23,2013 | 10:54PM

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Steve96785wrote:

Expect King Neil to jump up on his soap box claiming that his canoe paddling has raised Hawaii's competitiveness by 13%! Surprised that he hasn't taken credit already.

on May 23,2013 | 04:33PM

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falsewrote:

I guess we don't have to tune into Fox News to hear rightwing dis-information. The Star-Advertiser will present it to us as "fair and balanced," even when the report is from a notorious, rightwing group funded by large corporations.

My Goodness! ALEC doesn't like our state's economic policies. We aren't business-friendly enough for them. And what do they mean by "business-friendly"? Hostile to unions, opposed to enforcement of wage and hours laws, environmental protections, etc. ALEC is the main corporate-funded source which is writing rightwing model legislation for introduction into state legislatures by Republicans who cannot dream up bills by themselves. If you like the anti-labor laws passed in Wisconsin or Ohio, or if you like laws taking away a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy, ALEC is for you. Somehow, the Star-Advertiser thinks it is appropriate to downplay their rightwing bias while presenting this report as "news.

on May 23,2013 | 04:56PM

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sayerwrote:

Yup.

on May 23,2013 | 05:29PM

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tiki886wrote:

ALEC has credibility and accuracy with dysfunctional Hawaii just by measuring Hawaii's high cost of living index thanks to the greedy private and government unions.

on May 23,2013 | 07:16PM

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bsdetectionwrote:

This wacko group writes legislation for conservatives state legislators to introduce as if they had written the bill themselves. Some of ALEC's accomplishments are "stand your ground" bills under which Trayvon Martin's killer would be innocent. Another ALEC bill is the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act," which has been introduced in 12 states. It makes it illegal to film or photograph conditions on a livestock farm or slaughter house if those pictures expose inhumane conditions. Violators will be put on a terrorism registry. Here's another good one: ALEC drafted legislation protects oil companies from having to reveal what chemicals they are injecting into the ground in the fracking process. Why should you have a right to know what they're putting in your drinking water. Of course, ALEC wants to keep all of this secret. They don't want to embarrass state legislators by revealing that AKEC does their homework. And ALEC's tax exempt status would be taken away if they were lobbying, but this is worse than lobbying. Lobbyists try to convince lawmakers to write bills that favor the lobbyists' interest. ALEC skips a step and just writes the bill and stuffs it into the lawmakers' pocket, and the lawmaker dutifully presents it as his own work. ALEC was created by and is funded by the Koch brothers. For the StarAdvertiser to present this group's study as if it has any objective validity is amateurish reporting. The Koch brothers send out a press release and a lazy newspaper prints a story as if it was the product of actual reporting. Shame!

on May 23,2013 | 10:31PM

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harryuhanejimwrote:

We are doing better than that. They cannot see the Aloha around :). We are the State of Hawaii. The Last Star on the Flag. Give us time. and WE can show #1 tourist destination in the WORLD... we have patience. e aloha e.